Cleat plate structures for caterpillar belts

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to endless belts or chains for rubber-wheeled vehicles and provides a cleat plate structure for such belts or chains comprising very few different parts and lacking threaded bolt connections needing supervision and recurrent tightening, such bolt connections being replaced by plain bolts having a friction fit in the parts to be joined thereby.

United States Patent [1 1 Carlsson 11 3,738,715 June 12, 1973 CLEATPLATE STRUCTURES FOR CATERPILLAR BELTS [75] Inventor: Erik HerbertCarlsson, Overum,

Sweden [73] Assignee: Aktiebolaget Overums Bruk,

' Overum, Sweden [22] Filed: May 24, 1971 [21] App]. No.: 146,278

[52] U.S. Cl. 305/56 [51] Int. Cl 362d 55/28 [58] Field of Search305/56, 39, 57, 53

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,360,115 11/1920 Kemper305/39 1,780,513 11/1930 Arps ..305/56 3,355,224 11/1967 Skanes 305/533,383,140 5/1968 Stalberg 305/39 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS565,646 8/1957 Italy 305/56 Primary Examiner-Richard J. JohnsonAttorney-Johnson, Marcus & Wray [57] ABSTRACT The present inventionrelates to endless belts or chains for rubber-wheeled vehicles andprovides a cleat plate structure for such belts or chains comprisingvery few different parts and lacking threaded bolt connections needingsupervision and recurrent tightening, such bolt connections beingreplaced by plain bolts having a friction fit in the parts to be joinedthereby.

6 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures msmmzm 3.738.715

SHEET 1 0f 2 ERIK HERBERT CARLSSON INVENT R UM NW 1 PATENT Assm's CLEATPLATE STRUCTURES FOR CATERPILLAR BELTS The present invention relates toendless belts or chains for forestry tractors and similar vehiclesprovided with rubbertires on their ground wheels, and has for itsparticular object a tractor belt cleat plate structure of the kindcomprising a base portion having its greatest extension transversely ofthe belt and being formed at each end portion at the lateral edges ofthe belt with a substantially C-shaped bail member extendinglongitudinally of the belt, said bail member affording two hook-shapedportions for interconnecting the cleat plate structure with furtherplate structures to form an endless belt or chain with the aid ofinterposed link members.

Cleat plates of this kind are priorly known and are usually built up ofa welded base portion the end portions of which are connected to thecorresponding C- shaped bails by bolt means which also serve to hold adistance element for the said interposed link members disposd in eachbail member.

This and similar structures suffer from the inherent weakness that thebolt connections, in spite of the provision of self-locking nut means,need perpetual vigilance and recurrent tightening to conserve a properamount of stiffness in the belt and to prevent the falling apart of thelatter in operation. It is common practice, therefore, to lock thetightened bolt connections permanently, as by welding. Whereas thiseffectively prevents the falling apart of the belt components, anyfurther tightening of the bolt connections to maintain the rigidity ofthe belt is, of course, impossible. Further, such welding of boltconnections renders the replacement of damaged components moredifficult, and this is often aggravated by the fact that suchreplacement must frequently be effected with the tractor standing ondifficult ground where it is completely dependent on its belts being fitfor operation.

It is the main object of the invention to provide cleat plate structurefor the aforementioned purpose wherein its parts will have a reliablemutual connection and an interconnection with the said link memberswithout the provision of bolt connections and wherein the connectingmembers are not loaded in a dismounting direction during operation. Afurther-object is to provide a much simplified cleat plate structurehaving a reduced number of elements compared with the priorly knownstructures, and affording a very good rigidity in the diagonal sense.

These and further objects are attained according to the inventiontherethrough that two channel members are provided for each said platestructure and extend with their limb portions across the end portions ofsaid hook-shaped parts to engage by the said limb portions the sides ofsaid hook-shaped parts, there being aligned bores through said limbportions and said end'portions of said hook-shaped parts, detachablebolt members extending through said bores and liable to be subjected toradial loads only upon the tensioning of the bail member duringoperation of the belt.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described by way ofexample hereinafter with reference to the drawings.

In the drawings 6 FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of part of a tractorbelt or chain featuring the new cleat plate structure, and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view.

As seen from the drawings each belt plate structure generally denoted 1has a base portion or cleat member 1a extending transversely of the beltand formed at each end portion at the lateral edge of the belt with anessentially C-shaped bail member 1b extending longitudinally of thebelt. The base portion 1a is a steel casting integral with both bailmembers lb.

Each C-shaped bail member 1b, which has its open portion facing downwardin the illustrated position of the cleat plates, forms two hook-shapedparts destined for joining a plurality of plates to a belt or chain bymeans of interposed link members 2 of a known type. At one or morepoints along the belt the plates 1 are interconnected by means ofspecial joining links 3, instead, such links also being of a type knownin itself. These links are provided to render the mounting anddismounting of the belt on the vehicle easy.

The joining links 3 can be mounted laterally by having at least onedetachable side member whereby the link can be pushed home from theinner or outer side of the belt. The other link members 2 are mounted onthe assembly of the belt and are normally not detached from the beltunless damaged parts are to be replaced. These link members 2 areretained in their operative positions by means of an essentiallyU-shaped or channel member 4 provided for each bail lb. As illustratedthese U-members extend with their limbs upward from the web over bothfree ends 1c of the bail and prevent the link members 2 fromlongitudinal displacement relative to the cleat plates. The channellimbs are connected to these bail ends by means of plain bolt members 5extending transversely of the belt through aligned bores in the U-limbsand the bail ends 1c. The bolts 5 which are not subjected to axial loadsin operation are shaped and dimensioned for being retained by frictionin their mounted position. Threaded connections need thus not beprovided in the new structure. This is important with regard to theability of the belt to stand up to sustained operation with very littleneed for inspection and maintenance.

At uniform intervals along the belt the U-members 4 may be replaced by amodified structure 6 having an essentially V-shaped cross section andlonger limb portions. The limb portions of the members '6 will extendacross at least part of the side walls of the rubber tires to formcomplementary guide means for the belt to prevent the latter from losingits engagement with the vehicle wheels during hard operation. Themodified members 6 can be provided at each, every second, every thirdetc. cleat plate, as necessary. Since these modified members 6 replacethe regular channel members 4, a complete cleat plate structure will notin any case comprise more different parts than three, viz. one plate 1,two members 4 or 6, and four bolts 5. This compares very favorably withpriorly known structures as the number of parts will be only the half orless of those of the latter.

The invention is not restricted to the embodiment described andillustrated but can be varied as to its details within the scope of theannexed claims.

What I claim is:

1. A plate structure for endless beltsof wheeled vehicles such asforestry tractors or the like comprising:

a. a cleat member having its principal extension extending transverselyof the length of the belt, an essentially C-shaped bail memberintegrally formed with said cleat member at each end thereof, each ofsaid C-shaped bail members extending longitudinally of the belt with theopen portion of the C opening in a direction away from the cleatgroundengaging surface portion providing two hookshaped terminal partsfor connecting the cleat plate structure to a like structure by means oflink members joining said hook-shaped parts;

b. a channel-like member for each of said C-shaped bail membersreceiving an end portion of the two hook-shaped terminal parts andtraversing the opening of the C-shaped bail, aligned bores through limbportions of the channel member at each of opposite ends thereof,apertures in the terminal ends of respective ones of the two hookshapedterminal parts aligned with the bores respectively at opposite ends ofthe channel; and

c. detachable bolt members extending through said bores and respectiveapertures in the bail members detachably securing the channel member torespective ones of the C-shaped bail members.

2. A cleat plate structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein said boltmembers are a friction fit in their respective bores.

3. A cleat plate structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the saidchannel members have limb portions of a length sufficient to limit in anassembled belt the displacements of the said link members relative tothe cleat plate structure proper.

4. A cleat plate structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least someof the said channel members have limb portions of sufficient length toextend at least partly across the side walls of a vehicle tire when thebelt is mounted on such vehicle.

5. A cleat plate structure as claimed in claim 4 wherein said channelmembers are modified into a V- shape cross section.

6. An endless belt for rubber wheel vehicles such as forestry tractorsassembled of cleat plate structures as claimed in claim 1 interconnectedby link members between each of adjacent pairs of the plate structures.

1. A plate structure for endless belts of wheeled vehicles such asforestry tractors or the like comprising: a. a cleat member having itsprincipal extension extending transversely of the length of the belt, anessentially C-shaped bail member integrally formed with said cleatmember at each end thereof, each of said C-shaped bail members extendinglongitudinally of the belt with the open portion of the C opening in adirection away from the cleat ground-engaging surface portion providingtwo hook-shaped terminal parts for connecting the cleat plate structureto a like stRucture by means of link members joining said hook-shapedparts; b. a channel-like member for each of said C-shaped bail membersreceiving an end portion of the two hook-shaped terminal parts andtraversing the opening of the C-shaped bail, aligned bores through limbportions of the channel member at each of opposite ends thereof,apertures in the terminal ends of respective ones of the two hook-shapedterminal parts aligned with the bores respectively at opposite ends ofthe channel; and c. detachable bolt members extending through said boresand respective apertures in the bail members detachably securing thechannel member to respective ones of the C-shaped bail members.
 2. Acleat plate structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bolt membersare a friction fit in their respective bores.
 3. A cleat plate structureas claimed in claim 1 wherein the said channel members have limbportions of a length sufficient to limit in an assembled belt thedisplacements of the said link members relative to the cleat platestructure proper.
 4. A cleat plate structure as claimed in claim 1wherein at least some of the said channel members have limb portions ofsufficient length to extend at least partly across the side walls of avehicle tire when the belt is mounted on such vehicle.
 5. A cleat platestructure as claimed in claim 4 wherein said channel members aremodified into a V-shape cross section.
 6. An endless belt for rubberwheel vehicles such as forestry tractors assembled of cleat platestructures as claimed in claim 1 interconnected by link members betweeneach of adjacent pairs of the plate structures.